Trapped: Final Fantasy VII
by RainChild1
Summary: A group of teenagers have nothing in common except for one thing: their love of Final Fantasy VII. Now, they are trapped in the game with one hope of leaving: defeating Sephiroth.
1. Chapter One

Author's Notes: Okay, I know the idea of a group of kids trapped in Final Fantasy VII is a bit cheesy, but it was too tempting to pass up. Don't worry, my writing will be high-quality to make up for it (I know I've kind of skimped on my other fics out there, but, well, I'm pressed for time lately) and no, this is NOT a self-insertion. Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimers: Listen up, because I'm not putting a disclaimer in every chapter this time. I don't own the Final Fantasy VII, PlayStation, or any other copyrighted materials mentioned within. (Well, okay, of course I own a PlayStation and a copy of FFVII, what self-respecting female wouldn't? I just don't own the rights to them, and if I did, I certainly wouldn't have time to write stories about the characters I already own... anyway.) I don't make money off of these stories either, so all you'd probably get from suing me is three pennies and a broken clock radio at the most.  
  
Trapped: Final Fantasy VII  
Chapter One: Party  
  
  
Jenna's first major party had gone really well. Nothing had gotten broken, and no one had tried to show up with beer (her parents probably had the house under FBI surveillance). Things were starting to wind down; Jenna motioned to her best friend, Kylie, to start herding people out before the party got too boring.  
"HELL YEAH! PLAYSTATION!"  
"Oh, crap," she muttered. If there was one thing she cared about more than her mother's antiques, it was her video games. Worriedly she turned towards the den.  
Four guys from school were messing with the entertainment center, trying to find the right VCR setup for the PlayStation. Derek was plugging in memory cards, checking what was on them while a guy named Geoff selected controllers. Mike, who chatted with her at school, was pawing through her games as Chris checked the wires behind the TV. Mike looked up at her, grinning. "Hey, Jenna, I didn't know you had a brother," he called. "He's got good taste in video games."  
"EXCUSE me?"  
"Tekken, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII, these are all top-notch," he explained, as though expecting she had no clue about gaming.  
"I know," Jenna snapped, irritated. "They're mine."  
The guys laughed. Even Mike, whom she sort of counted as a friend, smiled a bit patronizingly. "Come on, Jenna," Chris snorted. Chris had been her rival in everything from academics to sports since second grade, and he had a way of provoking her-like now. "Girls can't even handle pong, let alone Final Fantasy."  
"I guess that explains why you must suck at them," she retorted. "I could kick your ass at any game in that stack, LITTLE boy." The insult as to his 'size' went unnoticed.  
The guys laughed harder; tears even started running down Derek's face. "Yeah, right," Chris sneered. "Any time, girl."  
"Is that a challenge?" Her teeth were gritted.  
THAT got their attention. They all turned to her, barely laughing any more. "Ooooh, a bet," Geoff said, rubbing his hands together.  
"Damn right."  
Jenna fixed Chris's mocking gaze with a glare that could make Satan wet himself. She was good-better than most, she'd even maintained a reputation at the local arcade-and if she couldn't beat him, no one could...  
"What the hell are you doing?" a voice hissed in her ear.  
...Well, except maybe Kylie. She hadn't heard Kylie and her friend Meghan come over. Kylie was nodding at Chris. "He's good, you idiot!" she whispered.  
"You've seen him play?" Jenna asked, still staring down Chris. All eyes were focused on Kylie now, who blushed.  
"He, uh, he beat House of the Dead," she said, suddenly shy.  
"Almost hit Kylie's score too!" Meghan added. "Only off by a few THOUSAND points."  
Another chorus of "oooh" went around the room. Chris looked at Kylie, surprised, but the quiet girl refused to look away. She nodded almost imperceptibly; if there was one thing that gave a girl as shy as Kylie courage to stare down some of the most popular guys in school, even over something like video games, it was Jenna. Though her thoughts went something along the lines of 'I'm going to kill her. A lot.'  
Chris looked at Jenna with a gleam in his eye now. "All right, bitch," he told Jenna amiably, "let's see what you got."  
  
The seven of them crowded around the PlayStation. "Name your game," Jenna said, trying to sound brave. She'd realized belatedly that her two-player games were mostly driving and tournament; she was good at tournament, but driving games were more Kylie's suit than hers. Jenna was mostly the best at strategy, adventure, and-  
"Final Fantasy VII," Chris said suddenly. "Your memory card has a file saved right before the boss in Mt. Nibel-"  
"The Materia Keeper," she interrupted.  
"Whoever beats him, with the most characters and hit points, wins the bet."  
"What's the stakes?" Meghan wanted to know. "Can't have a decent bet without stakes. You know, loser has to do winner's homework or something."  
Jenna could have slapped her. She could beat the Materia Keeper, but the problem was keeping more than one person alive. Usually, she let two people die and used healing spells galore on the last; it was easier than keeping all three alive, and took less supplies.  
Geoff stared at Meghan as if she was a two-year-old. "Homework? That's lame. We'll just... deem a suitable punishment for the loser when they're through."  
Surprisingly, everyone was interested now. It had happened before, though; Jenna and Chris in some bet over who was better, and the rivalry had become so interesting it was nearly famous at their high school. Still, it was always strange to see the revelation of "yeah, right" to excitement.  
She and Chris shook on it while Kylie popped the video game in the system. Then she glanced behind the TV. "Hey, Chris, did you do something with these wires?" she asked.  
"No, just checked them out. Why?"  
"Dunno, they just looked kind of odd." She shrugged, Derek saying loudly to quit stalling. Then she pressed the power button. "Oh, well, probably just imagin-"  
A deafeningly loud screech split the air. The seven teenagers involuntarily clamped their hands over their ears, yelling.  
Then everything went black.  
  
Suggestions? Praise? Flames? Review, or if you don't have an account, e-mail me at raingoddess_47@hotmail.com. 


	2. Chapter Two

Trapped: Final Fantasy VII  
  
Replies to my reviews: No, none of these characters are based on me, though Jenna has some of my personality characteristics. However, Kylie is based on my best friend Cara. (Her pen name is Okuichan, whom I co-write "Resident Evil: The Untold Story" with.) I will be cleaning up the writing in my first chapter, but I lost my disk with that chapter on it, so it will take me a while. I'll notify everyone when I've replaced it. I'm having a lot of problems with finding a place to upload my stories, but I'll try to work as fast as I can without collapsing or writing badly. (My comp only types; I don't have Internet access at home.)  
  
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the praise and suggestions. Right now, I want to take a few minutes to explain something: most of my story will not be concerned with idiot teenagers moving through the plot of the FFVII like puppets. They'll do plenty of that, I mean, but mimicking the game won't be a big deal. Instead, there will be a focus on the characters I've created, and parts of the plot that aren't shown in the game- such as Aeris being taken by Shinra- will be added. (I thought that adding this disclaimer might keep people from thinking it's just a run-through. I'd love to do that, but I've heard there's a lot of those out, and I'm afraid I've got enough to do already.) Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Two  
  
  
A loud squealing sound finally penetrated the black fog surrounding Chris's awareness. Groggily, he opened his eyes...  
... and nearly fell off a train.  
"YAH!" Chris yelped, flinging his body backwards. A loud THUMP sounded as he landed on his butt on the metal train-car roof. Still shocked but now wide-awake, he wildly took in his surroundings-- a train, he was on TOP of an old-fashioned train that was breaking as it approached the end of a tunnel. "What the HELL!" he shouted, scrambling away from the edge of the roof.  
A large hand clamped over his mouth. "Shu'up!" a deep, irritated voice snapped. "We're almost there! Be more careful."  
Chris's jaw was released, and he twisted his body to ask the person what was going on. The train Chris was perched upon was nearing the end of a tunnel, and light was beginning to penetrate the near-total darkness.  
Chris gaped at the man who'd told him to shut up. The guy had to be close to seven feet tall, though it was hard to tell as the guy was crouched down to avoid the tunnel ceiling. His muscles were huge, bulging to a nearly impossible size beneath his dark African-American skin. A scowl was set onto his face, an all too familiar-looking face...  
That's when Chris noticed the right arm. As the train was bathed in more and more light and less and less shadow, the light glinted off metal grafted into the man's forearm. Gun barrels replaced the area where the fingers should have been, and awe replaced the shock on Chris's face. 'Impossible, no way, it's just IMPOSSIBLE, damn it!"  
Barret Wallace moved past Chris, motioning for him to duck down against the metal roof as Mako Reactor No. 1 came into view of their hiding place on the train.  
  
  
At the same time as Chris had nearly fallen off a train roof, Jenna had awakened in nothing but pure, black empty space. Standing on what looked like mid-air, she peered around her surroundings, a sinking feeling in her gut. "Freaky," she muttered.  
There was ground solid beneath her, but it seemed the same as everything else-- a dark, coal-black void. She could walk, and move, and hear, and think, and see, but she was doing it all suspended in barren nothingness. The only thing visible was the blackness, and the glimpses of her face and arms as she turned this way and that, trying to see something that was... something, at least. Nothing presented itself. Distance was distorted; the black air was both five inches and fifty yards in diameter at the same time. It was both interesting and disquieting, and as the moments ticked by with nothing but the deep, empty limbo to see, it became more and more upsetting.  
Jenna was scared, on the verge of being panicked. One minute she was at her party, ready to play Final Fantasy VII, listening to Kylie explain about the wires looking odd and ready to kill Chris if anything happened to her PlayStation. The next, she was in some sort of bizarre emptiness. Where were the others? The flash of freaky light-- were they ALL here? If so, why couldn't she see anyone, or anything? Kylie, and Meghan... were they okay? Where the hell WAS she, in the damn imaginary box mimes always got trapped in? Trapped... WAS she trapped? If she was, how was she supposed to get out? Run until the endless blackness ended? It was making her head swim. Jenna finally responded to the tension with her most natural reaction in any frightening situation: she got pissed off. A lot.  
"IS ANYBODY OUT THERE, DAMN IT?! HEY!"  
Her voice echoed back to her, sounding high-pitched and more upset than angry, which served only to pissed her off more. "Chris! If you can hear me: this is YOUR fault, isn't it! I'm going to kick your ass!"  
The indignant tone that rang throughout... wherever she was made her feel a bit better. She actually felt the urge to laugh at the familiar irritation in her own voice. 'I'm not scared,' Jenna repeated to herself. 'I'm going to hurt him when I get out of here, but I am NOT scared.'  
Determined, Jenna folded her arms over her chest.  
And that's when she noticed something was really, really wrong.  
In... normal circumstances, which these certainly weren't, Jenna had dark, curly hair cut short, brown eyes, and a tall figure that had rather small breasts and skinny limbs. Even as she noted that her arms were larger-- stronger, even muscular-- she realized that her chest now felt as though she had... well, water balloons. Jenna looked down, inspecting the only thing she could see in the blackness: herself.  
"Oh, crap."  
Her chest was HUGE in comparison to reality, and clad in a thin, white shirt that bared her arms and midriff, though it didn't show much cleavage. Her skirt was almost indecently short, dark-brown with a thin belt. Suspenders were hooked to her waist hemline in a not-unfashionable way, and were pushed to the sides of her breasts, as if to inconspicuously accent them. Red, fingerless gloves covered her hands, brown cloth extending to her elbows; long, slender, shapely legs that were not her own ended in reddish-brown boots. Jenna felt a bit nauseous as she looked at the body attached to her head, as unsettled as if her body was simply missing. Which, in a way, it was.  
Brown bangs swept into her eyes, and Jenna had to fight the urge to scream. She'd never had bangs. EVER. And her hair wasn't nearly as straight as that which was dangling in her face. She spun, feeling like a dog trying to catch its own tail, and glimpsed the long brunette tresses tied at the bottom with a red band. Jenna didn't know why, but she was terrified, completely terrified, of what was happening.  
She screamed. 


	3. Chapter Three

Trapped: Final Fantasy VII  
  
Author's Notes: Well, it looks like this will end up being a REALLY long story. Hope I finish it before I'm seventy. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Three  
  
  
Chris had noticed the same changes in his appearance that Jenna was experiencing: he was taller, strong and tightly muscled, with spiky blond hair; he was clothed in straight blue, with dark brown boots and gloves and belt; something heavy was strapped to his back. But as Barret-- yes, BARRET WALLACE FROM FINAL FANTASY VII-- climbed to the front of the roof and the train came to a complete stop, Chris felt he definitely had better things to consider.  
A guy in a black outfit with a red bandana jumped down from somewhere further up the train. A soldier clothed in a red uniform rushed to meet him, but the guy-- Biggs, Chris recalled from the game-- was ready. Biggs grabbed the soldier, threw him bodily over his shoulder, and watched with satisfaction as the grunt was knocked out, his head connecting solidly with the train platform.  
"HEY, YOU!"  
The sound startled Chris. The figure who'd taken out the soldier was familiar; spoken sounds were not. The video game had relied on text and music, not voices. Another soldier was racing towards the guy--  
And was met with a solid kick to the stomach by a beautiful red-headed woman. The guy hadn't even seen it coming, flew backwards, and then crumpled to the platform in the same manner as his comrade, cracking his head on the ground. The woman, Jessie, grinned at her work, lowering her leg as Wedge, a chubby, short man, jumped from the train beside her. Barret disembarked last, then motioned to Chris, who stared down at him stupidly.  
It hadn't occurred to him until just now exactly WHY he was watching this scene, why he was dressed as he was. In all the shocked excitement, he hadn't even considered the possibility that was as real as the scene before him.  
He was Cloud. Impossible, it was IMPOSSIBLE, but he, Chris Munro, had become Cloud Strife.  
He grinned like an idiot. It was weird, it was inconceivable, but it was cool. He was Cloud, Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, the best game in the FF series.  
He'd have to thank Jenna for a kick-ass party.  
  
  
Barret Wallace stared impatiently up at the new member of his team, the rebel group called Avalanche. The guy had been recommended by a mutual friend, and he seemed bright enough, if arrogant and cold. The newcomer stared at him for a minute or two, then smiled like a dumb ass. Finally, he flipped off the train's roof, landing in a crouch in front of Barret. Grudgingly Barret admitted to himself the move was impressive. The guy looked just as impressed with it as Barret felt, though, as if he'd never done anything like it in his life.  
"Okay, newcomer. Follow me," Barret snapped, and turned to enter the Reactor. He could sense the guy wasn't following, and cast a glance over his shoulder. He'd stopped by the fallen guard and was removing something from the unconscious man's belt.  
Barret grimaced and continued towards the door. Security had probably been alerted, and the guy could take care of himself. If he couldn't...  
'A thief. Robbing a guy like a mugger. Ass hole.'  
Barret reached the Reactor's entrance.  
  
  
Actually, Chris had felt bad about taking the soldier's stuff, but he knew he'd need the potions the guard was carrying. They'd restore health, hopefully, just like in the game.  
Maybe he was dreaming. It was possible; he'd dreamed he was trapped in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis once. It had been pretty exact to the game, until he'd made out with Jill Valentine... but, anyway, it hadn't been this vivid.  
And Chris really didn't care. He was considering the likelihood of his being asleep; he'd been about to play FFVII, and that was the last thing he remembered before nearly falling off the train. But who knew what was going on? All he knew was that this was an absolutely awesome thing, and he might as well have fun, right? He wasn't some philosopher of "why." Dream or not, so what?  
Chris smiled as he turned to follow Barret, then cocked his head thoughtfully. He could have sworn he'd heard someone screaming... and it had sounded a lot like Jenna. Though he'd only heard her scream once, and that had been in rage-- at him, for tossing a worm in her hair last semester. Chris never would have thought she wasn't scared of worms... or that he'd end up running for his life because of his action.  
"Ahhh!"  
He spun, trying to take the sword from its heavy baldric on his back. There was no one behind him, no one around at all. Still...  
"Ahhh!"  
It was Jenna. He could hear the sound, though not with his ears, not exactly. Inside his head, it sounded like it was INSIDE his HEAD, like Jenna had been transported inside his skull. Chris listened carefully, wondered why she was screaming, why he was hearing it...  
And both he, and Jenna, were answered. 


	4. Chapter Four

Trapped: Final Fantasy VII  
  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
  
"Jenna!" Derek shrieked. "Jen-na!"  
Like Jenna, he was in some dark limbo. Like Chris, he was hearing her scream inside his head. However, he didn't know what the others were experiencing, and until he'd heard Jenna scream, he couldn't have cared less. What was happening to him was freaky enough.  
Derek was on all fours and covered in reddish-orange fur.  
He had tried earlier to explore every possible method of escaping from the black emptiness that surrounded him. The search had been rather futile: wherever he went, any way he turned, there was only more hollow space.  
Then, of course, there had been the puzzling, petrifying question of why he was furred and couldn't seem to stand up straight. Derek could see black tattoos on his body and cuffs of metal around his... well, paws, and the tail that streamed behind him. It didn't take strong powers of deduction to figure out that he'd been transformed into a big, orange lion, with no mane and sharp fanged teeth that were harder to deal with than the braces he'd worn for two years back in middle school. But he had no idea why, or how, or for how long. That is, until Jenna began to scream. He was pretty sure it was her, at least. He'd never heard the girl yell with the absolute terror she seemed to have right now, but she did shout a lot, after all. He could hear her voice inside his head as if she was whispering in his brain, and it was starting to hurt. Even as unsettling as the circumstances were, he was beginning to wish she'd shut up, and finally she paused for breath.  
"Jenna!"  
Derek's heart nearly stopped. That voice, he was certain, was Kylie's. He talked to her in chemistry class all the time. Jenna's voice stopped shouting, and now he could hear more-- Geoff and Meghan were yelling now, as well as Kylie. Jenna answered them.  
"Guys? Something freaky is going on," Jenna called, though Derek could probably hear her at a much lower decibel. "I'm... I'm, uh, well..."  
"Dressed funky?" Meghan supplied.  
"Yeah. And I'm in some, like, black hole or something."  
'Terrific,' Derek thought. "Who all's here? Geoff, Meghan, and Kylie and Jenna... what about Chris and Mike?"  
"I'm here."  
"Who?" Derek demanded. The voice sounded like a cartoon character's or something, unreal and oddly pitched.  
"Mike." There was a sound like a throat being cleared.  
"Chris?"  
There was no answer. "Well, okay," Derek went on. "Everyone from the party but Chris. That explains something. Like, absolutely nothing. Anyone know what's going on?"  
"Um..." It was Kylie again. "Look, I know this will sound strange, but... are... do... well, these clothes look familiar, and, um..."  
"Spit it out," Geoff snapped. "I'm dressed like a damned 1980's reject."  
"Lucky you," Derek said into the air. "I'm furry. Orange furry."  
"What?" Meghan called. "Orange fury?"  
"FURRY!" he shouted. "I'm some kind of frigging CAT, get it?"  
"You don't have to yell," she muttered.  
"A cat?" came the distorted voice of Mike. It was starting to sound a bit more like him and a bit less like Bugs Bunny, though. "That's funny, because-"  
"Kylie, you were saying?" Jenna prompted, ignoring Mike.  
"Well, um, I think this... dress thingy I've got on is from, um, well..."  
YES.  
The new... voice, if it could be called that, didn't belong to any of them, nor did it belong to Chris. Derek realized that even though the sounds of the group from Jenna's party were inside his mind, they were still SOUNDS, and the new speaker's voice was not.  
YOU MAY SAY IT, KYLIE. THE CLOTHING IS NOT FROM YOUR WORLD.  
"Okay, that's it," Meghan said suddenly. "I'm taking a nap. When I wake up, this crap will be over, and I will be home in clothing that doesn't look like something Britney Spears would wear in a bad war movie. I won't be hearing voices, I'll have fallen asleep with the TV on. I will not be in-"  
"Meg, shut up," Jenna interrupted with a sigh.  
Surprisingly, Meghan complied, and they listened for the new "voice" to continue.  
YOU HAVE ALL BEEN BROUGHT TO ANOTHER WORLD, MY FRIENDS. A WORLD YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.  
"The world inside the refrigerator with the door closed," Meghan muttered.  
YOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT INSIDE FINAL FANTASY VII.  
Derek burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. It was laughable, too ridiculous to bother contemplating. It had to be a dream or something. Orange furry beasts... being inside a video game...  
"Yeah, okay, Mr. Sandman," Geoff said. "We're in a big video game. Did you happen to notice that video games aren't usually black? Cuz I did. Can I go back to reality now?"  
YOU ARE IN WAIT FOR YOUR ENTRANCE. ONLY THE HUMAN NAMED CHRIS HAS ENTERED FULLY, BUT THE TIME FOR EACH OF YOU WILL ARRIVE SHORTLY. WHEN YOU ENTER THE REALM, YOU MUST LIVE THE LIFE YOU KNOW AS A GAME.  
The voice Derek was starting to think of as the Sandman was getting on his nerves. "Uh-huh," Derek replied, unimpressed. "And if I don't? If I just want to go off and dream about Jennifer Lopez?"  
YOU DIE.  
Okay, THAT was a bit, um, impressive. And frightening. Especially since Derek found he believed the words, much as he tried not to (as not believing crap like this was considered, well, sane). The Sandman continued.  
YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETURN TO YOUR WORLD UNTIL THE SEVEN OF YOU HAVE FULFILLED YOUR PURPOSE. IF YOU FAIL, YOU WILL DIE.  
"Wait a minute!" Kylie shrieked, making Derek try to cover his ears and nearly clawing himself before he remembered he had paws. It occurred to him that his hearing was sharper as Kylie continued. "I'm AERIS! Aeris dies! No!"  
YOU WILL NOT DIE, IF THE MISSION IS COMPLETED. ONCE THE PURPOSE YOU WERE BROUGHT HERE FOR IS SERVED, YOU WILL RETURN WITH THE OTHERS.  
"Oh, thank God," Kylie whispered, relieved.  
"Don't tell me you buy this shit!" Geoff shouted. "Please! We're in Final Fantasy VII, yeah, right. Next we'll be off to see the Wizard, whatever."  
HEED MY WORDS, the Sandman snapped. IF YOU DO NOT DEFEAT SEPHIROTH, ALL IS LOST!  
Derek sighed. He'd see about that.  
Even if he WAS orange and furry and...  
Well, Red XIII. 


	5. Chapter Five

Trapped: Final Fantasy VII  
  
Author's Notes: Hey! Please send me lots of reviews and e-mails, people: I'm thinking about doing other Trapped stories, but not until I finish this one and make some more headway on my other fanfics: The Story of Resident Evil (Game One), You're Not the Only Ones (Everworld), The Untold Story (Resident Evil, co-written with a friend of mine), and The Eleventh Battle (Mortal Kombat, which will probably become a master-piece of mine). I've started writing a few others, and I'm spreading myself way too thin with all the inspiration... and I don't want to continue a story people don't like. So, if Trapped is good, send me your comments as much as possible. (And try reading my other stories, too, okay?)  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
If anyone had been on the train platform with Chris, they would have seen him babbling like an idiot as the others had spoken to the... the, well, whatever it was. The voice. The voice of what Chris was becoming ever-more certain was what was keeping them in the game. But the others couldn't hear him, and after a while of shouting for answers and "Mike, you okay?", Chris had given up.  
He tucked the unconscious guard's potions in his belt, in a small bag he guessed was intended for the purpose of carrying things... judging by the fact that as he slipped them inside, they shrank to the size of marbles. When he pulled them out, they became full-sized!  
Chris stared at the bottles in disbelief and put them back; they shrank once more. He'd always wondered about the little plot-holes in the game like where they put their tons of potions and phoenix downs. Another small bag, upon investigation, held small gold coins with the word "Mako" etched on them; gil, no doubt, which was FFVII's form of money.  
"HEY! You!"  
Chris looked up, once again startled by unfamiliar spoken sounds. Uneasily he watched as two Shinra guards approached, raising their guns.  
"Oh, shit, man," Chris mumbled. The game had just gone from exciting to fun to confusing in twenty seconds, and now it was just plain uncomfortable.  
One of them fired. Four bullets hit his arm, and Chris stared in shock. There were round burn marks, but no holes, in the arm, and then they disappeared!  
Boomboomboom!  
The other guard fired, and Chris winced, not liking what he was going to have to do: kill the guard.  
Murder.  
With a gulp, he launched himself forward, swinging the sword at the guard's chest. Without looking at the body, Chris swung quickly at the other one.  
And it faded into red dust, then completely disappeared.  
He grinned, feeling foolish. Of course they weren't really, like, dead or anything. This WAS a game, right?  
After several tries, he managed to get the sword back in its scabbard, and then he headed for the Reactor.  
  
Barret stood in the shadows of a doorway, waiting to see if the two guards would return. When they didn't, he motioned Wedge, who was hiding a few feet away, forward, hoping that Biggs or Jessie or maybe the new guy had dispatched the two soldiers.  
"Wow! You used to be in Soldier, all right," Biggs was saying. Barret could hear him clearly; he wasn't even bothering to keep his voice down. "Not every day a guy like you joins Avalanche."  
"Soldier?" Jessie repeated. "Aren't they the enemy?"  
Jessie didn't even sound interested; Barret could hear the tone in her voice that meant she was working on something and would barely notice if there was a three-headed monster behind her.  
"I quit Soldier," the new guy said.  
"Oh, yeah?" It was Wedge's voice. Wedge paused. "What's your name again?"  
"Chris."  
"Chris? I'm..."  
"Wedge, I know. Biggs, and Jessie, right?"  
Barret scowled and stepped out of his hiding place, clearly annoyed with his team and the noise they were making. "What the hell you doin'?" he demanded, running up to his team. "I thought I told you never to move in a group!"  
"Not like anyone's around to see us," Wedge muttered under his breath. Barret was about to snap at him when the gate slid open. Jessie grinned at him, gathering up her lock picks and tools. Barret nodded curtly.  
"We'll meet up on the bridge," Barret told them. He turned to the new guy, Chris. Barret hadn't been able to remember his name for the life of him.  
"Ex-Soldier, huh?" Barret said. "Don't trust ya. The name's Barret, by the way."  
Chris frowned. "It is?"  
"Huh?"  
Chris looked at him, as if confused. "It's not, like, Mike or Derek or Geoff?"  
"What?" Barret stared at him. "Come on, man. We gotta Reactor to blow!"  
  
Chris furrowed his brow in thought as he watched Barret leave. He was Cloud, and Kylie was Aeris, Derek was probably Red XIII, and the others were here, too, right? So, shouldn't someone be Barret?  
'Well, great,' Chris thought grumpily. 'Maybe I'm stuck in here alone after all. Where the hell are the others?!'  
With a sigh, he stalked off after Barret. 


	6. Chapter Six

Trapped: Final Fantasy VII  
  
Author's Notes: Um, I'm kind of going to rate this PG-13, but the F-word will be in here a bit. Barret does say it, after all, only we Americans see it as !#&%. However, I've seen several PG-13-rated movies where the F-word's mentioned once or twice, so I think it's legal. Well, hope you like the story so far. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Six  
  
Chris could barely remember the entire layout of the Mako Reactors, but he was able to find the bridge and follow Jessie, Biggs and Barret to the access doors while Wedge guarded the exit. "This your first time in a Reactor?" Barret asked, as Biggs stood by the code panel.  
Chris searched his memory, trying to remember the words; it had been maybe two years since he'd beaten Final Fantasy VII and moved on to the rest of the series. "No," he said, but it came out like a question.  
"The planet's full of Mako energy," Barret explained. "People here use it every day. But Shinra keeps sucking up all the energy with these weird machines."  
Chris finally remembered what he was supposed to say. "I'm not here for a lecture," he responded. "Let's just hurry."  
"That's it, you arrogant fuck," Barret snapped. "You're coming with me from now on."  
"Touchy, touchy," Chris mumbled. Okay, so the game wasn't really word-for-word at the moment. All the better; Chris couldn't recall every single word. FFVII had come out in 1997, after all. It had been awhile, though he knew Barret hadn't called Cloud an 'arrogant fuck' right off the bat.  
"Code deciphered," Biggs said cheerfully as Chris approached. Barret walked next to him, glaring at Chris with suspicion. "You know," Biggs went on, "kind of amazing, isn't it? Our people risked their lives for one code."  
Chris nodded at him as Jessie entered the code for the next door, then went ahead of him and Barret to the elevator. The three of them crowded in.  
Chris hit the switch and Barret leaned against the wall near Jessie. "Little by little the Reactors will drain out all the energy, and that'll be that," Barret said grimly. "The planet's dying, Chris!"  
Chris racked his brain for the right words, then said, "Yeah, horrible. Let's just hurry."  
Barret looked ready to hit him, then swallowed and stepped off the elevator. With a sigh, Chris followed him deeper into the Reactor, down the metal staircases, through another door and up a few steps, where they were forced to leap across a gap in the path before heading down a ladder. "Those holes there never made sense to me," Chris thought aloud. "I mean, it's the path to the main area of the Reactor. Why put a hole there?"  
"Who cares?" Barret replied irritably. "It's not the main path the guards use, anyway. Main reason why we taking it. Let's go."  
Chris shrugged, following Barret closely. Jessie stayed near the bottom of the ladder as the two guys made their way down, where Chris would have to set the bomb that would destroy the reactor. He noticed that for some reason, there weren't many soldiers or anything around, like there were in the game. Distracted, he was taken completely off-guard when, as they approached the place where they'd attach the bomb, an ear-splitting shriek filled his ears with a high-pitched whine. "Chris, you set the bomb," Barret was saying as Chris clasped his hands to his ears. "I'm gonna watch to make sure your ex-Soldier ass don't pull nothing." Then he stared at Chris as the guy shook with the pain in his head.  
"What's wrong?" Barret's voice sounded far away.  
"Watch out!" The voice that cut through the wailing sound was sharp. "This isn't just a Reactor!"  
"What's wrong, man?" Barret said again.  
Chris looked at him, the pain and noise clearing. "Huh? Oh, yeah, the bomb."  
"'Oh, yeah, the bomb,'" Barret mimicked, and sighed. He handed the small, compact device to Chris. Chris stared at it, then pressed it against the wall like he'd seen Cloud do in the game.  
"Hey! It worked," Chris exclaimed, surprised. "Cool. Um, let's see. Which button do I press?"  
Barret rolled his eyes impatiently. "Press 'Start Countdown,' then 'Lock,'" he instructed.  
The bomb clicked, and Chris backed away. "Huh." Then his eyes widened. "Crap! The Guard Scorpion!"  
"Huh?"  
Chris swung the Buster Sword down from his back. A strange sense of calm suddenly filled him, and the same voice from before came to him. "Trust your instincts," it said simply, and then was gone.  
And a gigantic red shape dropped from the sky as an alarm started to blare.  
"What the hell?" Barret shouted, staring in disbelief. The Guard Scorpion was huge, about seven times Barret's height, with a big wicked-looking tail and large, red metal legs. Chris jumped forward suddenly, slashing at the thing's chest. A shallow opening appeared in the creature's armor, electrical wires exposed. Barret raised his right arm and fired in short bursts; his gun arm wouldn't shoot continuously. Chris put his sword on his back once more, and Barret looked at him in amazement as Chris called forth a lightning spell.  
The bolt made the creature shudder, and Chris stumbled back a bit, dazed. Then he yelled, "This kicks ass!" and cast the spell again, and again. Each time he staggered, momentarily tired. Then he stopped. "Barret, hold it!" he shouted, grabbing his arm. "It's raising its tail! Don't attack right now; it'll counter-attack with its laser."  
"Laser?" Barret repeated. Obediently he waited until it lowered its tail again. "Hey!"  
A blue and yellow light swept over him. "Oh, shit," Chris said, and began casting the bolt spell as fast as possible. The Guard Scorpion raised an arm to shoot at Barret, who braced himself for the attack...  
... and then the Scorpion faded into dust, shimmering red before disappearing entirely. "Let's go!" Chris yelled. "We got ten minutes till this place blows!"  
Barret nodded, impressed. "Not bad, for a new guy," he said to himself. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Trapped: Final Fantasy VII  
Chapter Seven  
  
  
Chris had never done drugs in his life, had never been high. But he was absolutely positive that the feeling he felt now was the same thing.  
He'd trusted his instincts, listened to Cloud as well as himself. Within him was the knowledge of how to cast the spells given to him by Materia. Ice, and Bolt... it was an incredible rush of power that made him feel as though he was floating, not running across metal pipes and catwalks. The idea that he could do something like shoot lightning from his fingertips was just as exhilarating as being able to feel the magic coursing through his veins.  
"YO!"  
Barret's call startled him, and he whirled around. A group of three Grunts with beam guns had gotten in between the two of them. As Barret fired on one, Chris charged another from the side, and it died into the red dust as the other turned and fired at him with its gun.  
It was a shocking, icy blast that stunned him for a second, and then the chill faded the same way the burns from the bullets had. Chris slashed out with his sword as Barret fired from behind. As the guy faded, he could see that the gun grafted into Barret's right arm looked slightly different. The assault gun must have been dropped by the Guard Scorpion, and Barret had somehow had the chance to change his weapon.  
Chris grinned like an idiot. He couldn't help it. The adrenaline rushing through his system made him feel like doing a victory dance like some arrogant football player. Barret raised an eyebrow at him and charged up ladder behind Chris, where Jessie would be. "Move out!" Barret yelled at her, scrambling up the next ladder without a backwards glance.  
Chris followed more slowly, then stopped and went over to Jessie. Her leg was dangling through the grid of the iron catwalk. "You alright?" he asked pleasantly, bending down to help.  
"My leg's stuck!" she practically screamed, exasperated. Chris pulled her free, noticing that she was shooting a death glare in the direction the oblivious Barret had gone. "Thanks," she said, and then leaped over him and took off.  
Chris blinked. He remembered the whole scene from the game, but it was still weird to see a girl jump over him as though skipping rocks. "This is so bad-ass!" he said gleefully, and ran after her.  
  
Jenna sat on the floor of the limbo (if you could call it a floor; it looked the same as everything else), her throat hoarse from trying to shout to the others. She hadn't been able to hear a thing, and she was worried, especially about Kylie and Meghan; they'd been best friends since they could talk. Plus, wherever she was, it was cold, and definitely not the right temperature for the skirt and light shirt she was wearing. She still felt awkward; she never wore skirts, and she was now about a half-foot shorter than normal (she absently recalled that Tifa was five-foot-four). At least no one could see her (she hoped); sitting down on the floor would provide a rather indecent view.  
With a sigh, she pulled her knees up to her chest, wishing something would happen...  
...and then, quite suddenly, she was handing a drink to a tall guy with red hair. "Thanks, babe," he said, handing her a few gold coins with the word "Mako" etched on them.  
She was so startled by the change in setting she nearly dropped the tray she was carrying. Hastily distributing the drinks to what she hoped were the people who'd ordered them, Jenna glanced around the room.  
There were two tables and a pinball machine, plus a bar with a young girl behind it, filling shot glasses with the appropriate liquor. Jenna stared at her in astonishment; a four-year-old, serving booze!  
'That's Marlene,' an internal voice said in wonder. 'Barret's adopted daughter. You're in Tifa's Seventh Heaven.'  
Jenna blinked. Until now, she hadn't totally believed it was true. The fact that her appearance had changed didn't mean quite as much in a black, empty void. She was in the bar that Tifa Lockheart owned and operated, and the hideout for Avalanche was in the basement!  
Marlene waved at her, and Jenna walked over to her with the empty tray. "Hey, Jenna," Marlene whispered conspiratorially, "I think Johnny likes you."  
Jenna glanced at the red-headed guy. "Marlene, we're just childhood friends," Jenna said.  
"Uh-huh," the girl said. "Just like you and Chris, right?"  
"WHAT?!" Jenna yelped. "Me and CHRIS?!"  
Marlene looked a bit surprised, but stood her ground. "The new guy on Daddy's team," Marlene said sweetly, glancing at the customers. They were all staring at Jenna in surprise.  
Jenna flushed. "Oh, the new guy," she said with gritted teeth. She glared at the people hanging around in the bar, and they all busied themselves with their drinking. "Cloud, of course," she muttered to herself.  
"Chris, silly!" Marlene corrected. "Come on, Jenna, you can tell me! You like him, I know it!"  
Jenna balled her hands into fists. "Marlene, you're a very grown-up little girl, right? You can handle grown-up things?"  
"A'course!"  
"I wish Chris would be boiled alive in acid."  
Marlene looked at her in shock. "I thought you liked him, Jenna!" she exclaimed.  
"Shh! No." Jenna paused. "Hey, you're calling me Jenna."  
"Why not? It's your name, silly!"  
"My name?"  
"Jenna Lockheart...?"  
Jenna sighed. "Well, that's that."  
"Huh?" Marlene regarded her with an expression on her face that clearly meant she thought Jenna had lost it.  
"Marlene, just... serve those up for me," Jenna said. Marlene nodded and started off with the tray of glasses. Then she turned around to look back at Jenna.  
"Jenna? You feeling alright?"  
"Yeah. Why?"  
"Nothing," Marlene said finally, shrugging. "Just..."  
"Yeah?" Jenna prompted. In response, Marlene walked over to the counter next to Jenna and grabbed a nearby liquor bottle. Then she put it on her tray. "What are you doing?" Jenna asked.  
"It's just like you always say about the customers," Marlene said importantly. "When they start acting funny, KEEP THE LIQUOR AWAY FROM THEM."  
  
Chris, Biggs, Jessie, and Barret reached the bridge with only seconds to spare. Chris's adrenaline rush was starting to wear off as they ran down the bridge, and Jessie slipped as the others followed Wedge out the escape route, falling to the floor, stunned as her body smacked the cold metal.  
"Shit!" Chris yelled. Without thinking, he stooped down and picked her up, shoving her forward. He could hear the explosion starting behind them, could feel the heat and knew the blast was roaring toward him.  
Then he was through the entrance, Jessie stumbling in front of him and catching herself. A deafening roaring noise sounded, and the wall collapsed behind them, sealing off the passage to the bridge.  
Jessie smiled at him. "Cool, huh?"  
Chris sighed, but managed to smile. "Cool."  
They made their way down a short tunnel, and then came to a solid brick wall. Jessie knelt down, attaching a small explosive device to the base of the wall and arming it carefully. "That should keep the planet going, at least a little longer," Biggs said grimly.  
"Yeah," Wedge echoed.  
The bomb made a quick beeping noise. "Get back!" Jessie ordered, and the five of them ran back down the tunnel as the bomb exploded.  
BOOM!  
The wall exploded in a burst of flame, opening onto an alley. Chris shrugged and leaped through the fire the way Cloud did, wincing a little at the heat. Barret and the others ran through, Wedge spitting on the flame in mild panic and spinning wildly to look at his back to check for sparks. "Alright, split up and get on the train!" Barret commanded.  
The others nodded and sprinted off. Chris followed Barret as fast as possible, hoping that, unlike the game, he could catch the train on time.  
"Excuse me."  
Chris stopped in his tracks. It was Aeris, in the pink dress and red jacket, staring at him with large green eyes while her brown hair blew in the wind. "Kylie?" he said hesitantly.  
"What?" She stared at him blankly, staff in one hand, basket of flowers in the other. "I was just wondering if you knew what happened... all the noise?"  
"Um, no," he said, feeling stupid. "But, uh, you better get out of here. I don't think it's safe to hang around."  
"All right," she replied, surprised. Chris watched her walk off.  
He groaned. "Shit, the train!"  
He bolted past Aeris, nearly knocking her on her butt; he could hear the train's whistle blowing in the distance. Then someone shouted "Halt!"  
"Shinra soldiers," Chris moaned. Without thinking, he ran forward, the guards firing behind him. The street opened up a few feet ahead, and more guards were on either side. They surrounded him eagerly.  
"That's as far as you go," one of them snapped.  
"I have a train to catch, bud," Chris replied irritably, leaning against a brick wall. "Now, I don't get to use the platform anyway. Thank you, you--"  
"Enough babbling!" the soldier interrupted. "Grab him!"  
Chris turned and hopped up on the wall behind him, staring down at the train tracks, feeling sick. "Where's the train?!" he wailed impatiently.  
The whistle sounded, closer now, and a glance behind him showed the guards were hesitating. Then the train suddenly roared beneath him. Chris jumped--  
And landed atop the train, sighing in relief as it roared away from the guards and entered a tunnel.  
"Thank god," he muttered. He flattened down, looking for a ladder or something to get him into the cars below. He grinned again, weakly. "Very cool."  
  
"Chris never came."  
Barret tried to keep his face expressionless, though his back was turned on most of his team. He felt horrible. If the new guy was dead, the girl who'd referred him would never forgive Barret... and Barret would never forgive himself. The thought pissed him off beyond belief-- Chris was from Soldier, showered with Mako energy, and yet died on a mission that Barret barely considered dangerous?  
"Chris... think he was killed?" Biggs wondered aloud.  
"No way!" Barret snapped without thinking. He punched a large wooden crate. "If y'all weren't such screw-ups..."  
"Hey, Barret?" Wedge said tentatively. "What about our money?"  
Wedge jumped as Barret's arm slammed the crate again. "Uh, nothing. Sorry," Wedge muttered quickly.  
"Chris..." Jessie murmured softly.  
Barret sighed, and then glanced up as a loud thump sounded from above him. After a second he shrugged. Then it was repeated, definitely right over their heads...  
The side door slid open, and before Barret could raise his gun-arm in alarm, Chris leaped through the opening, covered in soot from the train whistle. Barret had told him to avoid the damn whistle... did the kid ever listen?  
"Chris!" the team shouted. He grinned sheepishly at them, looking a little bedraggled.  
"Sorry I'm late," he said cheerfully. Barret could have punched him.  
"How dare you let us worry! Don't you give a damn about anyone but yourself?!"  
Chris just smiled, pissing off Barret even more. "Aw, you were worried? I'm touched."  
"This is coming out of your money!" Barret roared, stomping for the door to the next car. "Wake up! Move out!"  
  
Chris turned to the others, who rolled their eyes as Barret disappeared. "You were great back there," Wedge told him, and went to follow Barret.  
Biggs headed for the door also, then rubbed the back of his neck and turned to face Chris. "Heh, um, well... we'll do even better next time, man!"  
Jessie paused as they exited, then went to shut the sliding door Chris had come through. She smiled up at him, and Chris was suddenly acutely aware of how pretty she was: red, perfect hair, a fair complexion, big blue eyes and a lean, athletic figure. She seemed uncomfortable, then muttered, "Your face is all black," and pulled out a handkerchief, wiping away the soot tenderly. Chris's whole body tingled at her touch. "There you go," she said, and pulled away, starting to follow Barret. She turned.  
"Chris... thanks for helping me back there," she said softly.  
"Anytime," he said, his voice sincere. She smiled again and left. With a grin of his own, Chris followed. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Trapped: Final Fantasy VII  
Chapter Eight  
  
  
The train ride was exactly the same way Chris remembered from the game: he looked at the railway monitor with Jessie as she explained about Midgar, then talked with Barret about Shinra and the suffering of the people in the slums. The trip ended without incident, and Chris was soon making his way across the Sector Seven Slums to Tifa's Seventh Heaven.  
Everything looked surreal, like walking through a dream. Biggs and Wedge and Jessie ran inside the bar as Barret guarded the entrance. Chris marveled at the way everything matched the game in perfect detail, from the buildings to the people Barret had ushered out of the bar by force. Barret chuckled as Chris approached, half-nervous and half-hopeful that one of the others from Jenna's party would be inside as Tifa, though no one had appeared to... to possess Barret. "So," Barret said, a teasing note in his voice, "you ready to see your little baby?"  
Chris looked at him in surprise. "Little baby?" He didn't recall this part. Barret usually just said to go on ahead, but... hadn't Mike mentioned once that Barret said something else if you talked to him fast enough?  
"Don't act like you don't know what I mean," Barret replied. "I'm telling you, Jenna..."  
"JENNA?! SHE'S in there?"  
Barret stared at him, mystified. "It's her bar, man."  
Chris felt his heart leap at the thought that he wasn't alone after all, but his relief was short-lived. Jenna? Of all people, JENNA? The girl couldn't stand him, but he had no idea why. So he'd just returned the sentiment, arguing with her, teasing her, while Mike had always said if he didn't cut it out it'd look like Chris liked her. Chris had always shrugged that off, of course, but Jenna didn't strike him as a bitch... just hard for him to get along with. He wasn't sure if being alone was better or not; at least Tifa was nice to him-- or to Cloud, whatever.  
"Out of my way," Chris said grimly. He'd noticed Tifa hadn't come out when Barret and the others had showed up, but hadn't really thought about it. It did mean, however, that Tifa wasn't the same as in the game... so, yeah, Jenna probably WAS in there.  
Barret was still looking at him dubiously, but Chris glared at him. "Okay, go on ahead," Barret said with a shrug.  
Chris ran up the steps and through the saloon-style swinging doors, regarding the tavern in astonishment. It was completely true to Final Fantasy's details, from the square wooden seats to the table where Biggs, Wedge and Jessie sat, chowing down. A little girl in a pink dress started to run towards him, yelling "Papa!" happily. She stopped at the sight of Chris, turned and went to cower in a corner.  
"I'm sorry, Chris," a voice said dryly. "Our four-year-old bartender is never shy around customers, but I think your hair freaks her out."  
Chris whipped his head towards the sound. 'That's definitely Jenna,' he thought, even as his eyes settled on Tifa Lockheart, smiling mockingly at him from behind the bar. 'I could recognize an insult from the girl if I was deaf.'  
She raised an eyebrow at him. "It's not nice to stare," she said.  
Chris mentally slapped himself for gawking at her; but, well, it wasn't every day you saw a video-game character at a bar. He shrugged, giving her a falsely sweet grin. "Jenna, I like the new image. The stuffed-bra look does wonders."  
She glowered at him. "Look who's talking, Mr. I-Stuck-My-Finger-In-An-Electrical-Socket-And-My-Hair-Just-Sort-Of-Stayed-That-Way."  
Chris was about to deliver a witty comeback when he heard pounding on the front steps. He quickly leaped to the side as Barret stomped through the door, his boots clunking loudly on the wooden floor. "Papa!" Marlene shrieked, throwing herself into Barret's open arms. Chris noted with a bit of surprise that Marlene was clutching a large alcohol bottle. He glanced at Jenna questioningly, but she misinterpreted the look.  
"Welcome back!" she said to Barret, trying to sound amiable. "Everything go well?"  
"Great!" Barret said heartily. He looked at Marlene, his adoptive daughter, then at the liquor she was still holding. "What you doin' with that?" he asked her.  
"Jenna was acting funny," she replied, as though that explained everything. Barret shrugged and set the bottle on the counter, then walked over to the broken pinball machine. "C'mon, fools!" he called over his shoulder. "We're starting the meeting!"  
The pinball machine slowly lowered Barret and Marlene through the floor, and Biggs, Wedge and Jessie jumped down after them. Chris was about to follow when Jenna grabbed his arm. "Hey, wait," she said. "Which one of the guys is Barret?"  
Chris shrugged. "As far as I can tell, no one. He's been Barret ever since I got here. I have no idea why, but I don't think anyone's going to... play his part or whatever."  
Jenna stared at him, her fingernails digging into his arm. "What do you mean?" she hissed. "Where the hell are the others?"  
Chris yanked his arm from her grasp; her nails had drawn blood. "I don't know, Jenna," he said with a sigh. "Until they started to mention a girl named Jenna, I thought I was the only one." He glanced ruefully at his arm, then looked up when Jenna gasped. "What?"  
She didn't say anything, simply watched his arm like it was some kind of miracle. Chris followed her gaze, and saw that the shallow, half-moon cuts she'd left were disappearing, though he still felt a bit of a stinging sensation, like a paper cut. He grinned. "Pretty cool, huh?" he said.  
Jenna didn't reply. "That's incredible," she whispered in awe. "Is that like, what, the Mako?"  
Chris shrugged. "I guess so," he replied. "My other arm kind of hurts-- I got shot-- so I'm guessing that..."  
"You got shot?" she interrupted incredulously. "How could you possibly not have been hurt?"  
"I blew up a Reactor!" he exclaimed, exasperated. "I got shot at quite a few times. Give me a break! I don't know what's going on here any more than you do. So why don't you stay up here and theorize while I go down there and have Barret yell at me? You figure it out. I don't care. I'm going to get the hell out of this game, I'm gonna have fun doing it, and if the others are hurt or whatever, I'll kick whoever's ass I can find to kick!"  
Uncharacteristically, Jenna was silent. Then she finally said, "You think we'll be the only ones to show up?"  
Chris sighed, calming a little. "Maybe. I know Kylie's supposed to be Aeris, but I ran into her in the streets, and it definitely wasn't Kylie in there, the same way no one's in Barret. If nothing else, we'll beat this weird-ass crap ourselves, okay?"  
Jenna glanced up at him, hearing kindness and understanding in his voice. She smiled faintly. "Whoever thought we'd be on a team?" she murmured.  
Chris smiled at her, his face one again showing the same cockiness that had irritated the hell out of Jenna since grade school. "You and me, babe," he said cheerfully, knowing it would annoy her.  
Jenna shook her head and glared at him. Chris grinned at her mockingly and jumped down to the basement below. 


End file.
